


The Folly of Youth

by odheirre



Category: Carpe Noctem, Vampire: The Masquerade, World of Darkness - Fandom
Genre: F/M, The Echo Chamber, characters you haven't heard of, fae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:32:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10889016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/odheirre/pseuds/odheirre
Summary: What happened after Del lost the race to Cici





	The Folly of Youth

I was on hour three of my twenty-four hour geas, and some of the things I had hoped for happened. I was at Cici’s house, a nice one-story Roman style place with lots of windows and sunlight and open space. On the side of a mountain, of course, and the view was spectacular, of course. The tile on the floor was ivory and warm. We made it to her bedroom. Both Cici’s bodies were there, and both were naked. She is as gorgeous out of clothes as she was in them. Apparently she’s a natural blonde. And I was naked as well. Cici insisted that if she was going to strip, she wouldn’t be alone. And she dismissed her human servant, so we were alone with a goblet of wine, three glasses, and a plate piled with fruit and cheese.

That was the good news. The bad news is she asked for a massage and nothing more. I was working on her second body, stretched out on the bed, stomach down, arms and legs slightly akimbo. That body was purring as I rubbed her skin, the electricity and oil mixing together to her liking, apparently. The body I had finished with was lounging on the couch, sipping wine, looking at me, smiling. I was having trouble walking, and I kept telling myself I was only on hour three.

And then the door opened, just a crack. No one entered, but I heard the servant announce, “Lady Cici, you said not to disturb you, but have a visitor on official business. Zephyr.”

Cici groaned. “Make him feel at home in the dining room. Give me a half-minute, and then invite him to the bedroom.” The body I was working on turned over slowly, looking at me, then rolled to get out of bed.

I rubbed my hands on the towel sitting next to me, trying to rub the oil off. I was paying attention to Cici more than my task, to be honest. Cici waved her hands down in front of her body, and suddenly she was dressed in a long gown and all business. The other body was wearing a gown too. “Should I leave?” I asked.

“Stay here. This hopefully shouldn’t take long.”

This wasn’t awkward at all. This wasn’t the first time I’ve been in the High Court, but I’m usually delivering a message or on some type of task. I’m also usually wearing clothes, too. I stood by the bed and finished cleaning my hands. The Cici that was on the bed came up behind me, started running her hand up and down my chest lightly. That was not helping.

The door opened. An elderly thin man in white robes, just a wisp of a person, floated in, his feet a good foot above the ground. Generic Undine warrior followed him, armed with a spear, a fierce expression, and a leather tunic. He looked at Cici with fascination, switching from one to the other. “Cici,” the older man said. He looked at me, then back at her at the couch. “I obviously interrupted something and I apologize, but there is an urgent issue that requires your attention.”

“Lord Zephyr, this is Del, a Low Court messenger whose services I was lucky enough to obtain for the day. I definitely recommend him should you have the chance. Your apology is received. I serve the High Court and by extension, your will.” Cici didn’t bother introducing me to him, but I could feel his power.

Zephyr got right to the subject, something I appreciated. Why couldn’t more of the Low Court be like this? “One of the swan maidens, a young one, was foolish enough to be captured by a mortal. She was forced to give up her Truename. Normally this is not our concern, but this mortal is attempting to leverage her capture to lure more fae into his grasp, and this will not stand.”

Cici nodded her head. “The folly of youth. These young fae should know better than to be snared by mortal hands. But, isn’t this a matter of just dispatching the mortal? It hardly requires my attention, or yours for that matter.”

“This mortal is under the protection of someone not mortal.” Oh, say werewolves. Please say werewolves. “A vampire by the name of Redfang.” Damn. Vampires were lower on the social strata than fae, but still higher than mortals and ghosts.

“I see. How may I be of assistance?”

“Redfang is in the city of Peoria, under Prince James Michaelson.” I saw Cici smile at that name. “We can handle one vampire, but having the entire city against us would cause an unnecessary distraction, especially with the Grand Court celebrations so soon. I was hoping you could negotiate a way inside the city. I understand you know the Prince of the city?”

“We go back a ways. I will leave immediately. And this one?” Cici nodded at the Undine warrior.

“This is Quaid. The swan maiden owes him a geas, so he will track her in the mortal world.” I vaguely remembered that the Undine warriors could do that, one of their talents. “He is also tasked to kill the mortal, should there be no interference from the vampire Prince.”

“And if his vampire gets in the way? The vampires aren’t as obedient to their Princes as we are to ours.”

Quaid spoke for the first time. “I will fight honorably and die for the High Court if necessary.”

I muttered, “The point is to have the other person die,” and I may have said that too loudly. Quaid scowled at me.

The Cici at the couch broke the impasse. “I would be happy to assist the High Court and will leave immediately, even though this robs me of my time with my earnings. I would like to negotiate Del’s involvement in this if you don’t mind? I believe his talents may be useful.” Zephyr nodded yes, and the Cici closest to me whispered in my ear, “I could say this is part of the geas, but we both know this is above and beyond what you signed up for, so I’m not going to be a bitch about this. You up for this?”

I turned to her and said, “How about if I agree, then you give me a minor geas. Two hours, same conditions as those on me. I’ve never been with an air sylph before.” Our faces were right next to each other.

“Or I can give you nothing and order you to go. How about I’ll release you from your geas if you agree. We can negotiate after this is done on more equal footing. I was just getting into that backrub, and you might have gotten lucky had we not been interrupted.”

“Deal.” We hammered out the details, and I felt the geas shift.

When we were done, the Cici by the couch said, “The three of us will meet in Peoria, Riverfront Park just under the interstate bridge.” I knew where it was, and I was hoping Quaid knew as well. “My other body will stay here with Zephyr, we chat with James, and then play it by ear.”

Even with the time it took for me to get dressed, I was the first one at the park. Of course. It was night in the mortal realm, maybe around 2:00 AM, and the park was deserted and poorly lit. A thin layer of mist covered the grass. The moon’s reflection rippled off the river. A younger me would have zipped around the park under the excuse of “getting the lay of the land,” but I decided to save my strength. The geas had the “no harm” condition stripped off, and vampires were unpredictable. I just hope Cici would get here first. Maybe we could continue where we left off.

Fifteen minutes later, movement from the river attracted my attention. Quaid walked out from the river, bone dry. “Oh, you,” I muttered. I might as well make the best of the situation. “I’m Del, by the way. I don’t think we were formally introduced.” I held out my hand.

He didn’t budge. “Quaid, serving under Captain Francis, fifth regiment of the High Court.” I let my hand drop.

Neither of us said anything, just him standing at attention. I really wish Cici would get here. “Nice spear,” I said. It was a nice spear, steel tip, good craftsmanship, not that I know much about weapons. I chuckled. “Of course, you saw my spear already, back in Cici’s bedroom.”

“I did not. Are you trained in the martial arts?”

Sigh. “Really? How long have you been in the Courts?”

“Twenty years.”

That explains it. This is a fucking child. “This your first mission?”

“Yes.”

“Look, don’t do anything stupid and don’t panic. Vampires are easy to deal with as long as you keep a cool head and don’t get surrounded by them. They’re like bees.” OK, bees that drink blood and rip your head off and cast magic that would rival the Fae, but he probably didn’t need to hear that. “Stay close.”

“I don’t answer to you, Low Court.” He all but spat that last part.

“Yeah, we both answer to Cici.” Who should be getting here really soon to rescue me, please? “All I’m saying is follow her lead and don’t go running off on your own. For all our sakes.”

He didn’t answer me, just stared straight ahead at the river. I couldn’t tell if he was going into one of those trances they sometimes did. Wasn’t that good at sensing magic. If that trance meant he stayed calm, more power to him. I’ve heard that the best way to hurt an Undine warrior is to rattle them, make them lose concentration, and then you’ve got them. I never saw an Undine warrior up close, just heard of the famous ones like Typhoon and Maelstrom. Those stories tended to end in a lot of Low Court heads being severed from Low Court bodies. I don’t think Quaid was in the same league as those. He had a good physique, at least. Cute, in that Roman warrior style. He continued standing at attention.

A Cici floated in about fifteen minutes later, although it seemed like fifteen days. It was weird just seeing one of her bodies, realized that I never saw them not in the same room together. I wondered what it was like for her. “They are having gathering on the other side of the park, and I got a formal invitation. Let me do the talking, and do not take any action unless I give the call. Quaid, you know where the swan maiden is?”

“About a few miles away. I can sense concrete, probably inside somewhere.”

“OK. The mortal is probably at their gathering or with the Fae. Again, do not touch anyone without me saying something. And don’t say anything stupid.” I think that last remark was pointed at me. “The vampires take offense at the slightest thing, and they’ll start a war just to save face. And Zephyr doesn’t want a war.” We both nodded.

I’m not going to lie. I was a little nervous as I walked into the vampire camp, and I made sure I could get out of there in a hurry. From the outside, it looked like a typical mortal setting, if mortals usually met at 2:00 AM and were infused with some type of magic repellant. Electric lanterns ringed the camp, casting a dull light on everything. In one corner, a bunch of thugs were passing around a teenager, biting and sucking in quick breaths. Another dozen vampires were standing, talking in hushed tones. I had the feeling more were hiding in the shadows. The three of us made an entrance, and everyone stopped talking when we reached the threshold. Cici, the one in the middle, raised her hands. “I come to talk, and vow to not hurt any vampires that stand in this camp. You know Fae enough that my vow is my bond.”

One said, “And your compatriots? Wood spears hurt.”

Cici turned to Quaid. “He is with me, and my bond restricts him as well.” I didn’t know she could do that. “The other one is unarmed.”

A dapper man emerged from the crowd of speakers. He had a drink of something, looked like whiskey or bourbon. I didn’t realize vampires could drink anything but blood. He had a way of moving that I knew he was the leader of the group. “Cici. It’s been ages. Where is your sister?” His voice was monotone, but I thought I could see a faint sparkle in his eyes.

“On other business. Good to see you, as always. James Michaelson, Prince of Peoria, let me introduce Del and Quaid, my compatriots at this present time. Alas, this is not a social call.”

“What does Fae have to do on Kindred ground? We have no beef with you.”

“As us with you. However, one of the mortals under your command have captured a Fae. That capture was within guidelines, but your mortal is trying to use that Fae to upset the entire High Court. We are taking certain offense at that, as you can understand, and we would like your advise on how best to handle it.”

“Well spoken. We wish no conflict with the Fae, and can have him free the Fae.”

“Pardon, your sire, but the mortal knows the Fae’s Truename. Nothing short of the mortal’s death will free her.”

“I see.” He paused, then turned to the thugs in the corner. “Redfang, this is one of yours?”

One of the thugs pushed the guy back to the crowd and stepped towards the Prince. His face was sloppy with blood, and he wore leather and jeans. “Yeah. Ed. He’s a good guy.”

“He’s also causing trouble. Bring him here.”

“So these fuckers can kill him?” His fangs were showing. “Fuck that.” And he left the camp in a blur, his afterimage fading away. He was quick, give him that. None of the vampires said anything, and I thought they were doing a great job of ignoring the outburst. Quaid started to run after him, but Cici put a hand on his shoulder. I stood still.

The Prince turned back to us. “I apologize for Redfang. He gets... overly attached to his ghouls.”

“We have that problem as well with our younger fae,” Cici said. “No apologies are necessary. I assume that Redfang is going to warn his ghoul he is in trouble, try to get him some shelter, perhaps in another city?”

“Possibly.”

“The Fae respect your sovereignty. Though we will allow him to escape if you so desire, we ask your permission if we can handle this issue in your city now before it brings in other entanglements.”

“I give my permission, and will not stop you killing the mortal. However, Redfang may. He is quick, and he is tough. You may defend yourself from Redfang, but I reserve his Final Death for myself.”

“Thank you, James. I will plan on a social meeting soon, perhaps bring some of the scotch you so like.” The Prince turned away. “Del, I meant to ask. People can ride you, right?” I smirked. “I mean, while you are lightning.”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Quaid, ride Del, give him directions, get to the mortal, and kill him before Redfang gets there. Redfang gets there first, we have problems. You two can do that?” As an answer, I grabbed Quaid’s hand and turned to lightning, bringing him with.

Quaid started to panic, of course. Fucking youngsters. I could talk with him, told him to calm down and tell me which direction to go. Quaid was trying to steer and having a horrible time with it. Quaid started pointing me in the right direction, and we were weaving back and forth, skipping from city block to city block in a flash. A dozen times, Quaid almost dunked us into the ground or ran us into a streetlight. It took all my concentration to go in the right direction and avoid obstacles. We went from city mile to city block to building to floor to room, to the point where it was easier to search everywhere rather than follow Quaid’s directions.

Bookshelves lined the walls and dust lined the books. It was a narrow room, with a large wooden table and chairs hulking over the center of the floor. A stack of books teetered on the side of the table, and a tall musclebound guy was trying to read the books. One door on one side of the room, one window at the opposite site about a dozen feet up, open. A woman, the swan maiden, was in the corner, huddled, sobbing. Redfang was nowhere to be seen, although from the route we took and the speed he was going I knew he was close. I dumped Quaid on the other side of the table and me behind him, by the door. I realized that next to the door wasn’t the smartest place to be at, and I hugged the wall, trying to get close to the swan maiden.

The guy leaped to his feet and reached into his back pocket for a switchblade. He managed to get it out and open just as Quaid’s spear pierced his lungs. The guy coughed up blood in spurts and fell to the ground. Quaid pulled his spear out, with more blood gushing out. And that’s when the door turned into splinters and Redfang stood at the doorway. Redfang howled, more animalistic than human, and leaped at Quaid. I ignored them, got to the swan maiden, and yelled, “You’re free, get out of here.” She nodded once, leaped up into swan form, and flew out the window. At least one of us will make it. I turned back to Quaid. His spear was on the floor, and whatever trance Quaid was suppose to be in, it wasn’t working. Redfang was ripping out leather and flesh and muscle from Quaid’s shoulders and chest, ripping him apart. The blood just incited him to more violence. Quaid screamed.

I felt the spark and turned to lightning. I’ve tried to electrocute vampires once before with little effect. They don’t have much moisture in them, and it feels like running into a brick wall. Hurts me a lot, and doesn’t phase them. Instead, I hit the bookshelves, went round and round, holding out a hand and touching the books. They sparked and sputtered and started to catch fire. Hit the table to catch Redfang’s attention, and he looked up and noticed. I saw rage turned to fear in his eyes, and he was on the edge of running. I pushed myself between one of the bookshelves and the wall, and it came tumbling down ablaze, just missing Quaid’s groaning body. Redfang ran out the shreds of the door. I touched down next to Quaid, turned human, touched him, and dragged him out to the alleyway as quick as I could. Which is pretty damn quick.

It was just the two of us, me standing over him against a dumpster. It smelled of old Chinese food and pizza. I was dizzy and in danger of passing out. Quaid looked at me, smiled through pain, and said, “Thanks. I owe you one.” I felt a glimmer of magic, could have let it slide by, but no Fae worth his salt would let it go. I grabbed onto it. Kids these days. Don’t know nothing. I took his favor, freely given with no restrictions, and to the opposite court to boot.

Quaid must have felt it as well, because his eyes widened in horror. “What are they teaching you in the High Court,” I asked him. The options opened before me. If I liked Quaid or was a nice Fae, I would probably just sit on the favor, never trade it or call it in. But, I don’t know Quaid from Adam, and I’m not nice. I could give him an unrestricted favor of my own, swap vows, but I’m too young to get married. I could sell it to King Lars, make Quaid a puppet of the Low Court, perhaps betray his own kind. I could get some prestige from that. Or just enslave Quaid, ask for his Truename and be done with it. Options, options. “This is not going to be a good life for you.” He didn’t say anything. He was not smiling.

Cici arrived, we made sure the swan maiden was shuttled home and properly chastised, made sure Zephyr was happy, and two hours later it was just the Cici’s and me, sitting at her dining room table, with coffee, wine, and cheese. I had changed into clothes less covered in ash and blood, and even though Cici didn’t need to change, she did into something more revealing. Very low cut. Her human servant stood at her side at a respectful distance. “Thank you for your help,” Cici said. “I release you from your geas.” Felt that magic dissolve. “And I think I said we’d look at renegotiating?”

“Yes.” I smiled. “How about you serve me, fifty years absolute duration effective immediately, not tradable, not involving any fae’s confidences or Truenames, and not breaking any existing oaths, geases, favors, promises, or loyalties.”

“I like both your bravado and your sense of humor.”

“Seriously. And in return, I’ll give you this.” And I showed her the favor from Quaid.

She sucked in her breath. “This real?”

“Foolish young fae. You want to upgrade your human servant to something more permanent, like a nubile young Undine warrior to command?” It was poor form to hold a fae forever, but I trusted Cici not to abuse the young thing too much.

She tapped her fingers on the table. “Me. One year, one body, absolute duration effective immediately, not tradable, no permanent harm, change, dishonor, or loss of possessions, not involving any fae’s confidences or Truenames, and not breaking any existing oaths, geases, favors, promises, or loyalties, in exchange for Quaid’s favor. I think you were complaining about not being with an air sylph before?”

“I can’t go fewer than ten years. Both bodies. No permanent harm, change, or loss of possessions.” I smiled. “I can’t guarantee dishonor. But think of what you can tell Queen Josephine, you nobly sacrificed yourself to save a soldier from the Low Court. You may gain some stature in court from this.”

“Deal.” I think I could have held out for twenty-five years, but the magic hit me like victory. “So, what would you like?” She was smiling.

I smiled and motioned to her bedroom. “You need to ask? Let’s continue what we started.” Both her bodies stood up. This was going to be a very fun ten years.


End file.
